Where is my Milly, pleads her sister

The sister of Amanda Dowler today spoke of her family's torment since the schoolgirl vanished.

Gemma Dowler, 16, said the hardest thing was not knowing what had happened. "We might as well be back to the second day she went missing," she said. "We haven't found out anything different. There haven't been any leads. No one's seen her. "

Asked what the last two and a half weeks since 13-year-old Milly, as she is known to friends and family, disappeared, she said: "Horror. It's not even real. It's been really weird. Like why am I talking to a camera? Everything's just like not happening. Even my friends don't believe it.

"It's like a nightmare and I'm wondering when I'm going to wake up.

"It's like 24-7. You just can't get it out of your head. You're thinking, 'Where is she? What is she doing? Is she in trouble? Is she dead? Is she alive?"

In the moving interview, she said the family were still trying to work out what they had done to deserve losing Amanda. "I would always look after her and she'd do the same for me," said Gemma. "It's really hard because sometimes my mum starts crying and that sets us all off. I can't believe it's happening. What have we done wrong?

Amanda disappeared on 21 March walking to her home in Walton-on-Thames from the station after school.

Today, Gemma described her memories of her sister. "She's really nice, she's really pretty, she's got a lovely personality," she said. "She's funny. She's a great laugh if you ever need cheering up or anything."

Asked what she thought the most special thing about her was, she said: "The girlie chats we had when we shared a room. We'd be reading each other's text messages and things like that. I'd find out about her boyfriends and everything."

In an interview with the BBC's Newsround programme screened this evening Gemma also described the last time she saw Amanda before she vanished. "It was in the morning before we went to school. In the car journey, she was really relaxed. Friendly. Normal. Nothing was bothering her. "

Appealing for information that could bring Amanda back alive, she said: "There must be someone who knows something. Please call the police because we really need to know something-Even if something bad has happenedthey've got to say so we can start to get over it."

The teenager recorded the interview, accompanied by her parents Bob, 50, and Sally, 43.

Police have said Milly may have gone willingly with someone she had arranged to meet - possibly via the internet. Police have appealed for the driver of a blue Saab parked in Rydens Road, Walton-on-Thames, around the time she disappeared to contact them.